News & Stories

Woman with Lupus to Receive Life-Changing Transplant

Below is a story originally posted on NBC affiliate WMTV (NBC 15) in Madison, Wisconsin that tells the story of Jordan Sanville's battle with lupus and her wait for a kidney transplant. Lupus can cause inflammation in the kidneys and other serious kidney problems. Learn more here.

93 million people in the United States are waiting to receive a new kidney. Jordan Sanville is no longer one of them.

That's because this week, she'll receive her donated organ.

Jordan Sanville was one of two young women with lupus that NBC15 spoke to in March at a local bowling fundraiser called Strike Out Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can target different organs in different patients, and frequently it's the kidneys that are affected.

After telling NBC15 that she was not feeling well and on the waitlist for a transplant for her failing kidney, Sanville's wish was granted within a week. The donor: a family friend.

Donor Michael Eith was surprised he was chosen.

"For the longest time, we thought it was going to come through the family," says Eith, who volunteered to get tested when he found out Sanville's family members were not a match for donation.

After several preliminary tests, Eith was informed he could be the donor if he chose to - and he quickly made that choice.

Eith and Sanville will go into surgery this week. For Sanville, it's a three-hour procedure with a few days to weeks of recovery time. Eith will have to take a month off work to recover - and says his employer has been completely supportive of his decision.

In the touching video, both Michael and Jordan emphasize that making an organ donation-whether it's a live donation like Eith's or choosing to donate your organs after death-can make a world of difference for a sick recipient.